Social Media for Communication

Why use Social Media for your business?

Social Media today has changed how brands communicate to us online.

Because of  this change we are getting to see more of the personality and the people behind the big brands through ever increasing communication and interaction online. We, the customer, have become an integral part in marketing strategies today. This has lead to a mass of communication and interaction through social media and other online digital outlets. They want to know how we think, what we think, feedback, opinions, reviews. By building relationships with us, they are building trust and loyalty, knowing now that not only will this benefit them through repeat sales but also ultimately lead to recommendations. Recommendations are invaluable to any business today.

“71% people are more likely to purchase based on social media referrals”

It’s also exciting and fun times for brands marketing online, getting their messages out in new and innovative ways. Most big Brands are really embracing this whole new marketing strategy through social media communication and all other avenues constantly becoming available to them online. Getting it right can mean a Brand name going viral across the world and back again. There have been some incredible innovative and creative marketing and communication strategies appearing across the online world to date.

Following is one example that I like…

The links below show “Bodyform” respond to a lighthearted, amusing comment communicated through their Social Media page.

Have a read of the actual comment left to them by Richard Neill:

https://www.facebook.com/Bodyform/posts/10151186887359324

Bodyform saw that the “likes” on this comment were continuing to grow at a rapid pace. After brainstorming and coming up with an array of ideas they chose to respond to the comment publicly with a video that they produced especially. It was a brilliant response, amusingly honest and resulted in people laughing and talking about a company and subject matter that would normally be considered “Taboo”.

Have a check of the response here:

This video went viral and has currently been viewed by nearly 4 million people. The response is a major positive for Bodyform. It’s a real example of great marketing through social Media communication. It would be totally impossible to reach an audience of this magnitude before social marketing.

Then we have the brands that aren’t yet quite grasping the damaging effects Social Media communication can have and how sometimes it does NOT work for them. See this next example:

It’s another Facebook comment or in this case…  lack of comment:

Here you will see Volkswagen asking their customers a question and some advice on their social Media page. Not only did Volkswagen not respond to the growing negative responses it was getting, according to some reports they even deleted some of the responses causing even more uproar. By not responding or communicating and deleting negative comments, this caused the customers to get even more irate, which in turn lead to negative reviews going viral across the world. These online reviews and reports can never be removed. They are there forever.

Its important for Brands to communicate and respond to customers authentically and effectively through any of the Social Media avenues they use. To use everything to turn around and work for them… even if it is negative reviews they are getting…